Sage Mode
Sage Mode is the result of using natural energy along with a ninja's normal chakra in perfect balance to drastically empower a ninja's abilities. Usage Senjutsu (仙術; Literally meaning "Sage Techniques") refers to a specialised field of techniques that allows the user to sense and then gather the natural energy (自然エネルギー, shizen enerugī) around a person. Senjutsu practitioners can then learn to draw the energy of nature inside of them blending it with their own chakra (created from spiritual and physical energy within the shinobi), adding a new dimension of power to the sage's chakra, resulting in the creation of "senjutsu chakra" (仙術チャクラ, senjutsu chakura). This chakra cannot be seen by anyone other than those who have been trained in senjutsu. This new chakra enables the user to enter an empowered state called Sage Mode, which can then drastically increase the strength of all ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu. A person who is able to use senjutsu is called a sage (仙人, sennin). It would seem that there are only three ways to learn senjutsu. One of them is to study under toads from Mount Myōboku, as Shima, Fukasaku, Jiraiya and Naruto have done. Gamakichi and Gamabunta also seem to be familiar with it. Another way is to study under snakes from the where Kabuto Yakushi learnt it. The is the third place to have knowledge on senjutsu. A prerequisite to being able to use senjutsu is that the user must have a great reservoir of chakra themselves in order to manipulate the natural energy. Toad Sage Mode Advantages * The user's physical strength, speed, stamina, and durability dramatically increase. * The user's ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu become very powerful. * The user can harness the natural energy surrounding them, turning it into an extension of their body, and increasing the reach of their attacks. * The user gains the ability to sense chakra around them. * The user does not feel as much pain, and recovers faster from physical damage. Weaknesses * If the user draws in too much natural energy in the attempt to initiate Sage Mode, they run the risk of transforming into a toad, then into stone. * In order to gather enough natural energy to initiate the transformation into Sage Mode, the user must remain perfectly still. Because of that, the user can be an easy target for an opponent. * Because the user needs to move during combat, the Sage chakra cannot be replenished, which means the user can't stay within this state for extended periods of time. ** The two weaknesses mentioned above can be bypassed through the Sage Art: Amphibian Technique, where one Sage gathers chakra for another, in Naruto's case, shadow clones can be used for the same purpose, and finally in Koga's case, his Tailed Beast gathers the sage chakra for him from within, however this carries a weakness of it's own, disallowing him from accessing the beast's chakra while in Sage Mode. * After Sage Mode has ended, the user appears to experience exhaustion. Forms Imperfect Sage Mode Jiraiya was not able to properly balance his own chakra with natural energy, resulting in him using an imperfect form of Sage Mode. As such, whenever Jiraiya was using Sage Mode, he would summon Shima and Fukasaku by drawing a blood contract on his face to assist him in using Sage Mode. The Toad Elders fused to Jiraiya's shoulders with Sage Art: Amphibian Technique, gathering natural energy from their stationary positions for Jiraiya's use. As a result of the imbalance (and the imperfect nature of his transformation), Jiraiya took a number of toad-like traits when using Sage Mode. His appearance was altered: his nose grows bigger and gains warts, he gains excess hair (his goatee), and toad-like eyes. Further transformational attributes includes him taking on a toad-like stature and the lines on his face become much thicker, taking over each side of his face. Because of these traits, Jiraiya didn't like to use Sage Mode as it "displeases the ladies". He also showed the ability to transform his limbs (e.g. his hands and feet) into those of frogs so as to aid in maneuverability. Perfect Sage Mode Unlike Jiraiya, Naruto and pretty much any member of the Seijin Order is able to perfectly balance the natural energy with his own chakra. This allows them to use the true Sage Mode, which retains all of thier normal physical characteristics except for toad-like eyes: yellow irises, horizontal bar-like pupils, and the redish-orange pigment mark of a true sage on each eye. A true sage would still suffer from the weaknesses of Sage Mode, requiring that they use Sage Art: Amphibian Technique in a battle situation. Because of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox sealed within Naruto and later Koga, however, this method was rejected whenever they tried to fuse with their frog summon. As a workaround, Naruto has some of his shadow clones gather natural energy elsewhere while he fights. Once he has run out of his own senjutsu chakra, he has one of the clones disperse, giving him the clone's natural energy and allowing him to enter Sage Mode again. This method limits the maximum number of shadow clones that Naruto can create to five for as long as the clones are gathering natural energy, as anything more would interfere with their focus. To make sure he has enough shadow clones for use in battle, Naruto has only two shadow clones gather senjutsu chakra, allowing him to enter Sage Mode a total of three times. Naruto also stated that it is possible to lengthen the time he is in Sage Mode. Koga has also worked around this weakness. Since he has tamed the Nine-Tails within him, he has the beast itself gather sage chakra, allowing him to fight as if fused with a toad sage. This, however, has it's own drawbacks: it disallows Koga from using the Nine-Tails chakra while in Sage Mode due to it's disharmony with sage chakra. Snake Sage Mode Advantages There are numerous advantages granted while using Snake Sage Mode. These include: * The user's perception abilities and reflexes dramatically increase. Forms Perfect Snake Sage Mode While retaining most of his normal physical characteristics in Sage Mode, Kabuto Yakushi did display greater areas of darkened pigmentation around his eyes, which extended along the sides of his face until they tapered off after reaching his shoulder blades. More noticeably, he gained what resembled four horns growing out from the back of his head, as well as darkened sclera. Fox Sage Mode The fox "Sage Mode" is a variation of Sage Mode learned from the foxes of Shinkyō. It has been mistakenly referred to as "Fox Mode" (狐モード, Kitsune Mōdo; literally meaning "Fox Mode") by Seireitou Hyūga. Advantages There are a few known advantages of using the Fox variation of Sage Mode; * The user's physical strength, speed, stamina, reflexes, and durability dramatically increase. * The user's ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu become more powerful. * The user's body naturally heals itself, though this is a gradual process. * The user gains the ability to sense chakra around them. * The user gains the ability to transform into a fox. ** This is unlike the Toad Sage Mode, in which the transformation into the animal itself is linked with death. Disadvantages There are a few known disadvantages of using the Fox variation of Sage Mode; * The user experiences extreme exhaustion following the deactivation of Sage Mode. * The healing ability granted by Sage Mode causes the cells in the blood to accelerate their reproduction, which can shorten the user's lifespan significantly. * Using too much natural energy can result in an imbalance between the user's natural energy and their chakra, causing the user to gain more fox-like features. The end result could be that the user permanently transforms into a fox. Forms Imperfect Fox Sage Mode The Great Fox Sage, when explaining the mechanisms of Sage Mode to Ryun, revealed that in the past, there was a shinobi from the Iga clan who visited Shinkyō in an attempt to learn Senjutsu from the Foxes. Though he eventually gained access to the technique, it was by far incomplete. This sage gained fox-like ears upon using this form, as well as sharpened incisors, elongated fingernails, and fox-like eyes. According to the Great Fox Sage, this more feral appearance in Sage Mode was a sign that the user wasn't fully in control of their natural energy; rather their natural energy and their actual chakra were not in complete balance. Because of this, the user was unable to stay in Sage Mode for more than a couple of minutes. Perfect Fox Sage Mode Ryun is the only known user of this variation of Sage Mode, and since he is described to have "perfected" the technique, it is assumed he uses the perfect version of this technique. He retains his usual physical appearance, with the only exception being that his eyes become red, the pupils become slits like a fox's eyes, and whisker-like marks appearing on his cheeks. Like with the Toad Sage Mode, this variation seems to require a perfect balance of the user's chakra and the natural energy flowing into the user, allowing them to use True Sage Mode. Owl Sage Mode Advantages * The user's physical strength, speed, stamina, reflexes, and durability dramatically increase. * The user's ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu become more powerful. * The user's body naturally heals itself, though this is a gradual process. * The user gains the ability to sense chakra around them. * The user gains the ability to see in the dark as owls do. Disadvantages * If the user draws in too much natural energy in the attempt to initiate Sage Mode, they run the risk of transforming into an owl, then into stone. * After Sage Mode has ended, the user appears to experience exhaustion.